


Build Me Up From Bones

by NovemberMagpie



Category: EXO, Kpop - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-10-24 02:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10732758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovemberMagpie/pseuds/NovemberMagpie
Summary: Something I wrote for Jenn eons and eons ago.





	Build Me Up From Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote for Jenn eons and eons ago.

**Title** : Build Me Up From Bones  
**Fandom** : EXO  
**Pairing** : Minseok/Sehun  
**Chapter Word Count** : 2,250  
**Rating** : G  
**Summary:** Sehun still hasn't figured out how to navigate the overwhelming feelings that come with being Minseok's boyfriend. It's a good thing that Minseok is unendingly patient.  
**A/N:** Such gratuitous fluff. This was written for [Jenn](http://xiukisses.livejournal.com)' s sexiu Valentine's Day Project. On February 14th, she will be un-privating her [masterlist](http://xiukisses.livejournal.com/2600.html) so everyone can go and discover more sexiu goodness. Title is from the banjo and mandolin playing girl of my dreams, [Sarah Jarosz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X09s37tJ09s). 

  
  
“I never want to be away from you again, except at work, in the restroom, or when one of us is at a movie the other does not want to see.”

— Lemony Snicket

  
  
Sehun is in love.

  
Or, at least, he thinks he is. Possibly? Probably. He doesn’t know for sure, because he’s never been in love before. All he knows is that Minseok makes his stomach feel like melted chocolate, his heart like a balloon, and he inflicts on Sehun those too-much-coffee-not-enough-food jitters, but in a strangely pleasant way.

  
And he’s beautiful. Minseok is gorgeous, definitely the most attractive person on Planet Earth, and that’s _including_ Miranda Kerr (even though she is a very close second).

  
“What do you want?” Minseok asks without looking up, startling Sehun out of his thoughts. The two of them are alone in Minseok’s apartment—it’s a rare occurrence that his two roommates aren’t hanging around.

  
“What? Nothing.”

  
“You’re staring at me.” Minseok taps the screen of the tablet in his lap, flipping to the next page of his book. Sehun is sitting crosslegged on the couch, so close to his boyfriend that he can see the way Minseok’s lashes move as his eyes continue reading across the text. “That’s your _I want something_ look. I made you a milkshake less than half an hour ago, what else could you need?”

  
Sehun has trouble swallowing his spit. He _does_ want something right now, but until two weeks ago, Minseok hadn’t figured out that Sehun’s _I want something_ look could also pertain to him. It’s equally adorable and frustrating that Minseok still confuses Sehun’s thirst for sweets with his thirst for a certain _hyung._ “I don’t want anything.”

  
“Then why are you—”

  
“Because you’re just so ugly I couldn’t help but stare at your face and wonder _how_ , and _why_.”

  
Another tap, the next page. Minseok calmly says, “Try again.”

  
Sehun chews the inside of his lip, watching as the corner of Minseok’s mouth twitches. “You have a booger in your nose the size of a bumblebee.” That one procures a repressed smile. Minseok’s eyes have stopped moving, but he still stares at his tablet.

  
“One more time.”

  
Every small confession of endearment that Sehun wants to make, no matter how simple, feels like it needs the pressure and chemicals of an active volcano until it’s finally able to burst out of him. He feels the build up, resists it even though he and Minseok have been friends for over a year, then finally wheezes, “I’m staring because I really like your face,” while hiding his own face with his forehead pressed against Minseok’s shoulder.

  
Minseok chuckles as Sehun’s cheeks burn. He’s still getting used to this. Sehun’s whole life has been spent perfecting what Jongdae lovingly calls his, “Prep-school boy dough-face.” It usually passes for arrogance at its worst and self-assurance at its best, but no one has ever reduced him to this blushy, soupy mess. Minseok is terrible.

  
That’s a lie. Minseok is wonderful. Sehun doubts he’ll ever be able to say something genuine without it taking the willpower of Mount Vesuvius.

  
A press of a button, and Minseok turns off his tablet. Sehun straightens back up as Minseok places it on the coffee table then pulls his legs onto the couch, turning to face Sehun until their knees overlap.

  
“So you really don’t want anything?” Minseok asks, blinking his pretty eyes. Sehun is so focused on how the warmth of Minseok’s legs feels so nice against him that it takes him a moment to register the question.

  
Sehun does want something, he does _he does_. But he can’t put words to it. It doesn’t make sense to him. Because it’s not exactly sex, it’s just… _him_. Minseok. They’re sitting face to face and Sehun has an inexplicable gravity pulling him closer. He’s hit with an image of himself turning into some kind of amoeba, glomming all of Minseok in, and it gives him an itch of satisfaction.

  
That feeling happens all the time now, and Sehun rarely knows how to react to it. Like last night they’d been riding the subway, squished side by side, and Sehun had looked over at Minseok’s profile. Outside the window, concrete and brick and streaking lights whirred by. Minseok was wearing a beanie, all of his hair handsomely pushed beneath the fabric, and the bottom of his ear poked out from the hem. Pink from the cold. Sehun had been filled so suddenly with _want_ , that need with no name or reason, that it resulted in him reaching over and pinching Minseok’s earlobe between his thumb and pointer finger.

  
It probably wouldn’t have been as weird if Sehun would have let go soon after, but he didn’t. Minseok slowly turned his head, Sehun’s hand moving with it, and raised an eyebrow.

  
“Can I help you?”

  
“Um. No.” Sehun thought that he should have already let go, but then he wanted to keep holding on so it didn’t seem like he was embarrassed, but _then_ he was even more embarrassed because while he was thinking that _he’d been holding onto Minseok’s earlobe even longer what the hell was wrong with him_.

  
And Minseok didn’t bat his hand away, he didn’t call Sehun a freak, he just incredulously smiled and reached up, took Sehun’s hand in both of his, then held it in his lap. All of Sehun’s anxiety dissolved with every gentle stroke of Minseok’s thumb against the back of his hand.

  
Sehun doesn’t know what to do with everything that comes along with being in…extreme like-like- _like_ , and all of his feelings find the strangest ways to escape him. Since he’s spent the past year falling for Minseok, while simultaneously having his falling-for-Minseok being unnoticed by Minseok, all of this still feels so unreal. There’s actually kissing and holding hands and poking Minseok’s butt to make sure he isn’t a figment of Sehun’s imagination (and let’s be real Minseok has a very pokeable butt).

  
Minseok cups Sehun’s cheek in his hand, the movement so natural that Sehun feels a stab of jealousy. And, oh, right. He asked Sehun a question.

  
“I want,” Sehun says, trailing off. He wants to stay at Minseok’s side. Maybe not forever, but the thought of Minseok having to leave for class in less than an hour sure makes his stomach sink. Today, after Minseok finished making their strawberry milkshakes, he’d left Sehun sucking his drink through a straw while he went to use the bathroom. Sehun actually had the urge to _follow_ him. Not go inside the bathroom—gross—but just linger around the door. Even a few feet felt like too much of a distance.

  
And it’s so creepy and strange—this uncontrollable reaction of feelings that morph into actions, stupid actions—that half the time Sehun thinks it would be a lot less taxing if he and Minseok hadn’t even gotten together in the first place.

  
Which is outrageous. Because Minseok makes him pancakes in the morning. Minseok waits for him at the bus stop when Sehun gets out of work late, because he doesn’t want Sehun to walk home down the dark streets alone. Minseok buys him medicine when he’s sick, ice cream when he’s sad, and boba tea every other day because Sehun just fucking loves boba tea.

  
Of course, he did all those things _before_ Sehun word-vomited a confession two weeks ago, but now Sehun knows it’s not just because they’re friends. It’s because Minseok like-like- _likes_ him. At least, he hopes.

  
Sehun takes a deep breath. Instead of all that, he says, “I actually _do_ want another milkshake.”

  
Minseok’s expression flattens. The hand that had been so tenderly brushing Sehun’s cheek pulls back, and Sehun feels the slight sting as Minseok lightly smacks him with it, instead.

  
“What a brat,” Minseok mutters, but he’s already swiveling, placing his feet back on the ground. The loss of warmth brings the oddest panic. Sehun makes a blind grab, ending up with a fistful of Minseok’s shirt in one hand and his wrist in the other.

  
“No,” Sehun quickly says, “I changed my mind, come back.”

  
“But I was just going to the kit—”

  
“Come back.” Sehun gently pulls Minseok back to the couch, “You should stay here.”

  
Minseok raises an eyebrow but follows the tug of Sehun’s hands. Sehun can’t look him in the eye, but he can _feel_ his questioning stare. He knows Minseok is still confused about him—exactly what is going on in his mind. Sometimes it feels as if making the transition from friendship to being boyfriends is like finding and pulling a lever inside of the other person, opening up a secret door that leads to a whole new labyrinth to figure out. While Sehun handles his uncertainty by doing things like hooking his finger into the pocket of Minseok’s pants, or poking Minseok’s wrist with the tips of his dirty chopsticks, Minseok just stares at Sehun. And Sehun used to know what it meant—every little nuance of Minseok’s face—but now there’s brand new things he’s left to figure out.

  
Like this morning after he and Minseok had woken up in Minseok’s bed, their limbs tangled and blankets cocooning them together, he’d sat in the living room and watched TV with Minseok’s roommate, Jongdae, while his boyfriend showered. A scuffle over which show they should watch resulted in Sehun flicking Jongdae’s forehead, only to have the older boy squawk and use his super-tiny-but-super-effective hands to mercilessly tickle Sehun. That’s when Minseok walked into the living room, towel-drying his hair; just as one of Jongdae’s hands accidentally slipped beneath the ridden-up hem of Sehun’s shirt.

  
And then Sehun had rolled away, off the couch and out of Jongdae’s reach, and breathlessly looked up to see something dark across Minseok’s face. It made Sehun instantly forget the ache of his abdomen. Before he could ask Minseok, “ _What_?” Minseok had strode forward, twisting his wet towel into a rope, then used it like a whip to smack warningly at Jongdae.

  
“ _Stop copping a feel of my boyfriend_.”

  
Then it dawned on Sehun. Jealousy. Minseok actually had the capacity to be jealous, as was evident in the way he chased Jongdae across the living room, corralling him away from where Sehun lay dazed on the floor.

  
When the two of them met more than a year ago, Minseok seemed like he was on a completely different plane than everyone else. He never complained about having to work long hours at the convenience store; always let his best friend Chanyeol practically teethe on him like a puppy; patiently proofread through Sehun’s linguistics essays no matter how many different versions were thrust at him.

  
For Sehun to see Minseok be _bothered_ to the point of showing it was new.

  
Now, Sehun pushes against Minseok’s shoulders, easing him to lay down to the couch. Sehun sidles up beside him, both of them laying on their sides with Minseok’s back pressed against the back of the couch. For good measure, Sehun slides his leg between Minseok’s and uses it to hook them together.

  
Cuddled together like this, Sehun remembers that Minseok is _so small_. If anyone were to walk in from behind the see them, Sehun’s body would obscure Minseok’s from view. Sehun wisely chooses not to marvel out loud at that, though, knowing that’d probably end with him getting knuckled in the gut.

  
Sehun’s hand starts on Minseok’s chest, feeling the _ba-bump_ of Minseok’s heart before he slides it down Minseok’s stomach, then up to curl around the dip of Minseok’s waist. It’s so simple but it’s so _perfect perfect perfect_. Sehun repeats it in his mind like a mantra, snuggling closer until their torsos are pressed together.

  
And Minseok just stares. He stares and searches Sehun’s face, his hands caught between them, fingers fiddling with the fabric of Sehun’s shirt. Then Sehun can’t help it anymore and he closes in the small gap between them to kiss Minseok, watching as Minseok finally stops staring and his eyes flutter closed.

  
Sehun’s hand holds tighter to Minseok’s waist. He may not be good with words, but he’s good at this. Minseok’s mouth is _so soft_ and that itch is scratched again when Sehun gently scrapes his teeth over Minseok’s bottom lip, sucks it into his mouth so he can swipe his tongue over it and taste the leftover sweetness from the strawberries and ice cream. Neither of them make a move to deepen the kiss. Sehun may not know why Minseok keeps their pace, but he’s not quite ready for what may be unleashed when they get something started and have the entire apartment to themselves.

  
The thought is equally enticing as it is terrifying.

  
Minseok’s fingers slide up Sehun’s clavicles, thumbs pressing beneath Sehun’s jaw to keep his mouth in place, fingertips against the pulse points of his neck. Minseok kisses across his lips, corner, bow, corner, then pulls away so only their noses are touching.

  
Sehun can feel the shakiness of Minseok’s breath against his own mouth, the way Minseok laces their legs tighter.

  
“You sure you don’t want me to make you another milkshake?” Minseok asks, even though his lips are still tilted toward Sehun’s. His thumb strokes Sehun’s chin. Sehun puffs a small laugh.

  
“Positive.”

  
Then Sehun kisses him again. Hoping that by doing this Minseok can understand everything that he can never find the right way to express. And again. And again. And again.

  
Sehun is in love.


End file.
